Draw made for Universal Open Ho Chi Minh as day one begins
All 64 first-round ties are set — Aloysius Yapp opens the card against Wan Kwok Ho, with home favourite Dương Quốc Hoàng headlining the evening session.
HO CHI MINH CITY — The draw for the Universal Open Ho Chi Minh was published on the official Digital Pool bracket late on Tuesday, hours before the first break-offs at Sniper Billiards Club, with all 64 first-round ties scheduled across five session blocks on Wednesday and a final block on Thursday morning.
Play opened at 11:00 local time with world No. 1 Aloysius Yapp against Hong Kong's Wan Kwok Ho, Oliver Szolnoki facing Ngô Hồng Thắng and Wu Kun Lin meeting Lương Văn Nam among the early ties. Robbie Capito plays home hope Nguyễn Gia Bảo in the 13:00 wave, before former world champion Carlo Biado takes on Nguyễn Hoang Minh Tai at 17:00.
The evening session belongs to the home crowd: Dương Quốc Hoàng — Vietnam's first Matchroom event winner — closes the day against Chiang Po Hsun in the 19:00 block, alongside Johann Chua's tie with Hồ Sở Phát. A strong Filipino contingent runs through the day's card, while Dennis Orcollo's opener against Hoàng Thái Duy heads the last first-round block on Thursday morning.
The 128-player event plays double elimination down to the last 64 — races to nine on the winners' side and eight on the one-loss side — before a straight knockout builds to Sunday's race-to-13 final. The $63,000 WNT Silver purse pays $15,000 to the champion.
Why it matters: The bracket landed barely half a day before play, confirming the biggest ranking event yet held in Vietnam is on schedule — and the evening session gives the Ho Chi Minh City crowd its first look at Dương Quốc Hoàng on home soil in a World Nineball Tour event.
Sources: the official Digital Pool bracket, cross-checked pairing-by-pairing against the ncuemedia draw listing. Read our tournament preview.
